Induction of arterial baroreflex using neck-chamber technique: Application to interoception study

Abstract

The arterial baroreflex is a body homeostasis system in which the body attempts to return to the original value by regulating heart rate and vessel diameter and is one of the interoceptions. When baroreceptors in the carotid sinus and aortic arch detect an increase in AP, a decrease in heart rate (HR) and peripheral vasodilatation occur, and vice versa. The neck-chamber technique is an experimental method in which the internal pressure of a collar placed around the neck is made negative to inflate the carotid artery and induce the arterial baroreflex. Previous studies have reported that subjective pain perception and physiological/neural responses to physical pain were suppressed by applying the neck-chamber. However, the effect of neck-chamber on other psychological factors including the interoception are still unclear. This study introduces the procedure, advantages and prior findings of the neck-chamber technique and discusses its application to the interoception research.